[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 142 (Monday, July 24, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45698-45699]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18590]



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Part V





Department of Education





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Office of Postsecondary Education Upward Bound Participant Expansion 
Initiative and Inviting Applications for Supplemental Awards for Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2000; Notices

  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 142 / Monday, July 24, 2000 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Upward Bound Program Participant Expansion Initiative

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of Final Priority.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education announces an absolute priority to 
provide supplemental funds of up to $85,600 in fiscal year (FY) 2000 to 
currently funded Upward Bound projects that serve at least one target 
high school in which at least 50 percent of the students were eligible 
for a free lunch under the National School Lunch Act (Free Lunch 
program) during the 1998-1999 school year.
    The purpose of this priority is to increase the number of the 
neediest eligible students who are served by the Upward Bound program. 
The neediest students are generally those from the lowest income 
levels. The Secretary believes that limiting supplemental funds to 
projects that serve the above-described target high schools is a good 
way to measure whether projects serve the lowest income students 
because the Free Lunch program is limited to students from families 
with the lowest family income.
    Under this priority, supplemental funds of up to $85,600 will be 
made to currently funded Upward Bound program projects. An estimated 
157-177 current Upward Bound projects could each receive supplemental 
funds to serve up to 20 additional students.
    Projects that receive supplemental funds under this priority are 
strongly encouraged to select eligible participants who have the 
greatest need for Upward Bound services.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 23, 2000.

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Whitehead, Sheryl Wilson, or Gaby 
Watts, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room 7020, 
Washington, DC 20006-8510. Telephone (202) 502-7600. The email address 
for The Office of Federal TRIO Programs is: [email protected].
    The email addresses for Ms. Whitehead, Ms. Wilson and Ms. Watts 
are: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact persons listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Secretary of Education published a 
notice of proposed priority in the Federal Register on June 1, 2000 (65 
FR 35238-35239).
    In FY 2000, the Congress provided more funds than the 
Administration requested for the Federal TRIO Programs. In examining 
the options available to the Secretary for allocating these additional 
funds, the Secretary determined that a portion of the funds should be 
used to increase support to the Upward Bound program. The Upward Bound 
program, authorized under section 402C of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 as amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. 1070a-13, serves low-income, potential 
first-generation, college students by helping them generate the skills 
and motivation necessary for success in education beyond secondary 
school.

Analysis of Comments and Changes

    In response to the Secretary's invitation in the notice of proposed 
priority, nine parties submitted comments on the proposed priority. An 
analysis of the comments and of any changes in the priority since 
publication of the notice of proposed priority follows.

Target School Eligibility and Date of Eligibility

    Comments: One commenter recommended that free lunch eligibility be 
determined for the school district rather than the target high schools. 
One commenter recommended the use of 1998-1999 school year data rather 
than 1999-2000 school year data, since the 1999-2000 data will not be 
available until October 2000. Two commenters recommended use of the 
eligibility rate for the county or specified service area for free 
lunch or public benefits such as AFDC.
    Discussion: Upward Bound projects serve target high schools that 
are not necessarily within the same school district since the target 
areas do not have to be contiguous. Upward Bound projects also serve 
target high schools in different counties and States. Therefore, it is 
easier for most Upward Bound projects to collect data from the specific 
target high school and certify that the target high school meets the 
free lunch criterion, which requires eligibility for the Free Lunch 
program, not participation in the Free Lunch program. AFDC benefits are 
individual records and collection of AFDC information for a target high 
school would be difficult. The Secretary accepts the suggestion that 
the data should be collected for school year 1998-1999. In many areas, 
the data for school year 1999-2000 may not be readily available.
    Changes: The Free Lunch program data will be collected for the 
1998-1999 school year.

Low-Income First-Generation Criteria

    Comments: One commenter suggested the Secretary use the low-income 
first-generation criteria rather than 50 percent Free Lunch program 
eligibility for the priority.
    Discussion: All participants who receive services under the 
priority must meet the eligibility requirements for Upward Bound, which 
already require that participants be low-income or potential first-
generation college students.
    Changes: None.

Free Lunch Criterion

    Comments: One commenter supported the use of the free lunch 
statistics as an indicator of high need of students for the Upward 
Bound program. The commenter also questioned if other possible 
indicators might be used. Another commenter recommended the use of 
actual income of the families of students enrolled in the target high 
schools as the measure of need for expanded services. The commenter did 
not recommend an income threshold to make that determination.
    Discussion: The Secretary believes that the use of the Free Lunch 
criterion coupled with the requirement that Upward Bound participants 
are generally from low-income families is sufficient to target these 
supplemental grant funds to the right grantees.
    With regard to the use of family income, schools do not know the 
family income of their students so the commenter's suggestion is not 
practical.
    Changes: None.
    Comments: Another commenter recommended that the concept of free or 
reduced lunch be used as the eligibility criterion for the initiative.
    Discussion: The priority is designed to increase the number of the 
neediest eligible students who are served by the Upward Bound program. 
The neediest students are generally those from the lowest income 
levels. The low-income eligibility requirement for students to 
participate in Upward Bound is a family income that does not exceed 150 
percent of the poverty level established by the Bureau of the Census. 
In contrast, the Reduced Lunch program and Free Lunch program 
eligibility requirements are set at 185 percent and 130 percent

[[Page 45699]]

of the poverty level, respectively. Therefore, the Reduced Lunch 
program has a higher income threshold than the Upward Bound program and 
would not be useful for targeting the lowest income students. The 
Secretary believes that limiting supplemental funds to projects that 
serve target high schools with 50 percent or higher of the students in 
the Free Lunch program is a good way to measure whether projects serve 
the lowest income students. The Free Lunch program is limited to 
students from families with the lowest family income.

Rationale for the Priority

    Comments: One commenter questioned the need for the priority. The 
commenter recommended allocating the funds to all existing Upward Bound 
projects to support student stipends, work study components, increase 
staff, and support technology skills.
    Discussion: The priority is designed to increase the number of the 
neediest students participating in the Upward Bound program.
    Changes: None.

Cost Per Participant

    Comments: One commenter questioned if additional students would be 
funded at the current per student participant rate, since costs vary 
among projects.
    Discussion: The priority is designed to serve up to 20 additional 
students at a cost of up to $85,600. Since the priority is geared to 
serving the neediest students, costs may be higher than the current per 
student participant rate. This would be determined by the types of 
additional services and activities to be provided.
    Changes: None.

Participation of Target High Schools

    Comments: One commenter questioned whether students enrolled in 
target high schools, that were included in a grantee's initial 
application but that are not currently being served, can receive 
services under this supplemental initiative.
    Discussion: Yes, a student enrolled in any target high school 
included in the grantee's Upward Bound application, that was submitted 
on or before October 30, 1998 would be eligible to participate.
    Changes: None.

Page Limitations

    Comments: One commenter questioned the existence of a page limit 
for the narrative that accompanies the revised budget.
    Discussion: The priority provides for supplemental funding to 
expand the current projects. Therefore, only a brief narrative is 
needed to describe the activities to be provided with the additional 
funding.
    Changes: None.

Support for the Priority

    Comments: Three commenters expressed support of the priority.
    Discussion: No changes were recommended.
    Changes: None.

Priority

Absolute Priority

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), the Secretary gives absolute preference 
to applications that meet the following priority. The Secretary funds 
only applications that meet this absolute priority:
    A project funded under this priority must serve a target high 
school in which at least 50 percent of the students were eligible for 
the Free Lunch program during the 1998-1999 school year.

Invitational Priority

    Within the absolute priority specified in this notice, the 
Secretary is particularly interested in applications that meet the 
following invitational priority. However, under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) an 
application that meets this invitational priority does not receive 
competitive preference over other applications.
    The Secretary strongly encourages projects that receive 
supplemental funds to enhance their recruitment strategies and services 
to target high schools to select and serve students who are at greatest 
risk of not graduating from high school or pursuing postsecondary 
education.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive 
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened 
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State 
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
action for the program.

Applicable Program Regulations

    34 CFR part 645

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available free 
at either of the previous sites. If you have questions about using the 
PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-
888-293-6498; or in the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 84.047A)

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070.

    Dated: July 17, 2000.
A. Lee Fritschler,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-18590 Filed 7-21-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P